1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer enhancement of human perception. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing a computer mediated augmented reality experience.
2. Background Art
Theme parks featuring adventure rides provide a unique blend of physical motion and sensory stimulation that has terrified and delighted generations of recreational thrill seekers. Thanks to advances in technology, those attractions have evolved considerably from the relatively tame Ferris wheels and timber constructed roller coaster rides of the past. It is no longer unusual for a visitor to a modern theme park to encounter sophisticated and lifelike simulation rides providing experiences that appeal to a broad spectrum of rider tastes, and are at once both realistic seeming and fantastic.
For example, a single theme park may offer roller coaster ride attractions and water ride attractions, as well as other distinctive types of thrill ride experiences, in an effort to accommodate a variety of visitor preferences. Moreover, within a particular type of attraction, for example a roller coaster type ride, the experience may be offered as a child's fantasy adventure, such as Casey Jr., be presented with a traditional fairy tale backdrop, as in the Matterhorn bobsled ride, or be given a futuristic theme, like Space Mountain, all of which are presently offered as alternative roller coaster type attractions at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, Calif.
The very success of modern theme parks like Disneyland, and Disney World, in Orlando, Fla., highlights the importance of offering in-park adventure experiences exploring themes and having features appealing to a wide audience. A conventional strategy for continuing to meet that challenge is to increase the number and variety of the types of attractions available in-park. Because of their ever increasing emphasis on realism, however, adventure rides utilizing simulated reality environments may be heavily reliant on costly and complex supporting technologies requiring extensive synchronization and substantial data processing capabilities. Due to their cost and resource requirements, there is a practical limit to how many distinct physical attractions of this level of sophistication any single theme park venue can support. Consequently, in order to continue to provide visitors with the diversity of attractions they have come to expect, theme parks may be compelled to find a way to produce more than one distinct adventure experience using a single in-park simulation environment.
A comparatively recent competitor of theme parks for the attention and affection of the thrill seeking public, are computer generated experiences such as networked or online games, and the excitement available from engaging those virtual environments. Typical computer based games and simulations utilize computer graphics to mimic a three-dimensional real-life environment, using the two-dimensional presentation available through a computer monitor or mobile device display screen. Because virtual environments are software based, rather than requiring the combination of software and hardware needed to support a brick-and-mortar theme park attraction, they are considerably less costly to provide. As a result, adventure experiences reliant on virtual environments may be produced more rapidly, in a greater variety, and can be modified with greater ease than is possible for real theme park attractions.
An additional advantage of computer based simulations over their theme park counterparts is the extent to which the experience can be personalized to a single user. For example, while a conventional adventure ride, such as Disneyland's Space Mountain or Indiana Jones Adventure, is substantially the same experience for all riders, a virtual environment might be engaged differently by different users, depending for example, on their skill level, preferences, or history of previous use. As a result, a computer virtual environment may provide an experience that seems more personal, more interactive, and more flexible in response to user preferences, than are most theme park attractions.
Nevertheless, despite their numerous advantages, computer virtual environments are inevitably constrained by their format. Consequently, they often fail to provide the visceral thrill associated with a real adventure ride, arising, for example, from the physical motion produced by the real ride. As a result, conventional solutions to providing simulation environments leave the recreational thrill seeker facing a mutually exclusive choice. On the one hand, he or she can sacrifice realism in favor of the flexibility and variety available through a computer virtual environment. Alternatively, he or she can choose to enjoy the realism available from a sophisticated adventure ride, but have little opportunity to interact with the experience in order to influence the unfolding of events within it.
Thus, although both of the conventional approaches for implementing simulation environments described previously embody desirable aspects, neither optimally provides both sensory richness and verisimilitude. Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a simulation having the realism of physical experience augmented by the sensory richness and power of illusion produced by a computer virtual environment.